But the Law Society president Jonathan Smithers has said: “Promoting and protecting access to justice for all, whoever and wherever they are, is a core value uniting our diverse membership. We have grave concerns that closures and integration of courts in Wales, combined with the further proposed increases in court fees and reductions in eligibility for legal aid will combine to erode access to justice.”

Some of the courts under threat include Pontypridd Magistrates Court, Bridgend Law Courts and Carmarthen Law Courts.

Carmarthenshire council held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the proposals, which also earmark the Carmarthen Civil, Family, Tribunal and Probate Hearing Centre for closure.

Under the proposals the government want to transfer the court business to either Swansea, Haverfordwest or Aberystwyth and The Ministry of Justice has included predicted travel times within its consultation document.

However, after meeting, Carmarthenshire’s executive board is calling for a court presence to be kept in Carmarthen and has questioned the accuracy of the figures, which they say underestimate travel times from rural areas, and do not take into account frequency of buses or other modes of public transport.

Council Leader Cllr Emlyn Dole said: “The proposal talks about access to justice, however we do not believe that this proposal will give that to many people.

“We question their figures on travelling times and the availability of public transport, we also feel strongly that as the county seat Carmarthen deserves its own court.”

The governments consultation for Wales is being aimed at court users, judiciary, staff and other parties with an interest in the provision of local justice arrangements throughout Wales. It began on July 16 and will end on October 8.

The Law Society is currently collating solicitors’ views on the impact on the public and lawyers of the proposed closure and integration of courts and tribunals across Wales so that they can respond to the government consultation.

They are also asking the public to share their thoughts about how these proposals will affect them before they submit their formal response.

The Law Society has created an interactive map to show how courts in Wales could be affected by the government’s proposals. View the map at https://the-law-society.cartodb.com/viz/06f0bec2-41aa-11e5-bc9a-0e49835281d6/public_map